Budgeting Archives - Mrs. Weber's Neighborhood

20 Items To Buy at Costco

Oh Costco, how I love thee. I mean, where else can you go and find massive amounts of fruit and toilet paper in one spot? And sooooo needed for a family of 5?

After shopping Costco for the past few years, I’ve found I’m a creature of habit when it comes to buying certain items. As a power shopper and budgeting diva, I tend to know which stores have the best price on certain things regardless of coupons or sales. Costco is not always the cheapest option, but for some things, it’s totally worth the annual membership.

I go to Costco once per month to stock up. These items are always on my list.

20 Items To Buy at Costco

Organic spinach. I get the big clamshell and use it in salads, in eggs, in smoothies, etc. If it’s not used after a few weeks, I freeze it in baggies.
Kale salad. This stuff has pumpkin seeds and cranberries and is the only way to eat kale IMO. I split this up into a few meals for the week.
Brussel sprouts. I roast all of them at once and eat them during the week for lunches. Best price!
In-season fruit and veggies. Know what’s in-season and stick to those items. Blueberries are my favorite to get since our family plows through a pint in a day.
Garden Fresh salsa. I’m convinced this Michigan made brand is the best salsa on earth. $4.99 for a GIANT container. I use it for recipes, on chips and my favorite snack — topped on cottage cheese.
Stonefire mini naan bread. I love using these to make garlic bread or to make individual pizzas at our house. A pack of 18 is less than $5!
Cereal. Costco has some awesome deals on cereal if you can find a kind you love and stick to those on sale. We also love adding stuff to McCann’s Steel Cut Oats, and they have the best price by far.
String cheese. This is a favorite snack at our house, so we like to buy it in bulk. The 60 pack lasts us all month and is right around $10. Can’t beat it.
Maple syrup. The Costco Kirkland brand has by far has the best price for pure and organic maple syrups.
Salmon/fish. The price on fish is great, and they have the good stuff. When I’m feeling splurge-y, I nab the marinated mahi mahi. It’s amazing.
Chicken nuggets. I have kids. ‘Nuff said, right? We use these for a quick lunch often, and I love using them to top salads and wraps.
Rotisserie chicken. These decent size birds are for a great price, and are perfect for an easy dinner or to split up for lunch meat.
Gum. I chew A LOT of gum {it’s my nervous habit}, so it’s crucial I get the big pack. Their prices provide the best value.
Peanut Butter. For the standard ole JIF, Costco is the best. I know because both my girls refused to eat anything but PB&J for their second year, and JIF is the only brand they will eat. Nutella is a great deal too, but I know I would just eat it all myself 😉
Jam. Costco’s organic strawberry spread is a big favorite here! The ingredients and price are perfect.
Chocolate chips. If you bake often like I do, it just makes sense to get the giant bag. Also? You will never be out of chocolate at your house!
Popcorn. Both microwavable and Skinny Pop. We love popcorn in our house!
Sponges. Kitchen sponges tend to be pricey I feel. Costco’s big pack lasts a few months.
Magic Erasers. I love getting a giant pack for a great price. Love these for cleaning everything from our shoes to our shower floor.
Toilet Paper. Their price not always be the best, but their toilet paper is good stuff, and buying a case means peace of mind for a month. Isn’t buying TP the worst?!

Things I skip:

Kid snack foods. Some are a decent deal, others aren’t. If there is something your kid HAS to eat, grab it. Otherwise, I find the prices at Meijer and Aldi better. I do grab occasional snacks from here for classroom treats though because it’s just so darn convenient.
Beer. The prices aren’t any better than other stores for the kinds we like, and the selection is lacking. With that said, I do love me some Costco wine, and the price and selection is good.
Diapers. The prices aren’t that great. I tend to just stick to Target and Meijer for the best diaper deals paired with coupons and rewards.
Things I know we won’t eat fast enough. This is where meal planning comes in handy. I loathe waste, so do my best not to purchase fresh items I can’t use quick enough.

Other noteworthy points:

Their sheet cakes are AMAZING, and less than $20. So great for birthday parties where you have a lot of guests.
Feed a family of 5 for $7.50. The fact that my entire family can eat for less than $10 is noteworthy. My oldest says Costco is her favorite restaurant…She is a little obsessed with their hot dogs! And every time she sees the Pepsi symbol she thinks it’s for lemonade – ha!

Check out the clothes area. They have some really great stuff here. I love when they have Carter’s PJ’s for kids on sale, especially. I always stock up. I’ve also nabbed a few special occasion dresses for my girls here for a great price.
Costco Optical has awesome prices. This is where I found my specific brand of contacts to be cheapest.
Check out the gift cards. They have a variety of discounted gift cards available. Perfect for gifts!

What are your favorite deals and finds from Costco?

Budgeting Blues: Managing Champagne Taste on a Beer Budget

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Ya’ll I have a problem: Like most Americans, I am pretty good at spending money. Unlike most Americans, I am not in debt.

Here’s the scoop: I am slowing learning how to hack life so I can live the good life, and still put away moula in my kid’s college funds. This is how I manage my champagne taste on a beer budget.

Granted, my idea of champagne may be MUCH different from yours {I’m fine with Andre and don’t feel the need for Veuve Clicquot}, and that’s cool. Please note I’m just a middle class blogger trying to make ends meet!

Forgo A Mani/Pedi And Invest In Good Nail Polish. I know it’s not the same, but if you love having your nails painted {I do!}, just suck it up and spend $8-$10 on a good bottle, plus an overcoat that will last and not chip fast. Reserve the nail treatments for special occasions.

On that note…

Do Your Own Hair When Possible. I love my boxed hair dye on occasion and I also cut my husband’s hair. I only messed it up twice…and it grew back 😉 If your spouse has a simple ‘do, buzz it for them to save. I used to cut my own, but now it’s too long/thick. I treat myself to a good salon once or twice a year, but typically I just go to a cheap spot for a trim.

Use A Credit Card That Rewards YOU. Screw the credit card system by using it to buy everything and PAYING off every single penny each month {never carry a balance!}. We earn rewards through our Chase Freedom card. I sometimes use it for Amazon points, but we’ve also used it for cash back and for gift cards for buying Christmas/birthday presents during the year. Currently, we’re saving cash back for our family vacation this spring.

Try Mystery Shopping! I love mystery shopping because I LOVE going out and a good chunk of our budget goes toward that. There’s a whole slew of sites you can sign-up with for legit opportunities {do your research — the good ones are different for each city/area I’ve learned}. Don’t do it to make profit, because you probably won’t make any, but use it as an excuse for a guilt-free night out. We get to eat out a lot thanks to this gig. I think it’s super fun! Warning though: You don’t get paid for 30-45 days, so you must pay the costs up front. You must take a writing test, so don’t even try if you can’t write well.

Join Email Lists, But Don’t Open Them Unless You NEED Something. Don’t get distracted by FREE SHIPPING or 60% OFF headlines. This is a marketing ploy. Sure, if you’re looking for something specific, by all means, click. Otherwise delete the evidence so you won’t be tempted.

Invest In Things That Matter. To me, good shoes, a good bed, a reliable vehicle with gas, a nice house, and quality food to feed my family are my big guns where I spend. Figure out your priorities and set a monthly budget with them, then determine how much you’d like to save. ‘Play’ with whatever money is leftover. Personally, I prefer to spend our ‘extra’ money on experiences versus material items.

Set A Budget. This is a big one. Determine your living expenses and what you’d like to save each month and work it out from there. Having a budget helps make you much more aware of your spending so you start using your dollars where it matters. If budgeting scares you, I encourage you to at least track your spending with Excel for a month. It’s enlightening! {Read about my personal budget here.}

Subscribe To Frugal Blogs. Frugal/couponing blogs are one of my favorite niches to follow. These folks work SO hard to save people money. Subscribe to their lists, of course, but also engage in their communities! When I am looking for the best price on something specific, I know locally I can turn to Bargains to Bounty’s Facebook page for advice.

Shop Smart. For staple groceries, use coupons or shop inexpensive stores like Aldi when possible {dude, they even have organics now!}. For clothing, shop end-of-season for the following year, and thrift when possible. For home goods, use garage sale sites or visit estate sales for items to be repurposed.

What are your secrets to living the good life on a budget?

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Budgeting is Sexy.

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Money

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Since meeting my husband more than 8 years ago, there are a few things I’ve become more passionate about. For starters, politics. Second, Frank’s Red Hot sauce. He’s an addict. I never thought I’d dig the stuff, but now I crave it.

But the #1 thing my hubby has taught me? Budgeting is SEXY.

Seriously.

Prior to me deciding to stay home, we never really tracked our expenses. What was the point? We both made good money and it didn’t matter how we paid for things. We paid our credit card off each month and consulted each other before purchasing any larger ticket items.

Today, it’s a different tune. Every single penny matters for us. Saving during a month could mean a project on our house, or maybe even a vacation one day. If you don’t already know, I am married to an accountant. He has intricate spreadsheets on our money that may as well be rocket science to me.

When I started staying home, I had no choice but to learn more about where our money was going. We looked at our new income and figured out how we could live within our means, and still save for retirement. I plan on going back to work full-time in the years ahead, but we decided not to include that possibility, with all my future work projected as our fun money.

How do you do this? Work backwards. We decided we’d work until 65. Assuming we will not have social security or pensions, we determined how much we will need to live on if we make it to our 90’s. Let me just say that we need to save MILLIONS with inflation calculated. It sounds like SO much, but think: That money could potentially need to be spread across 40+/- years. It’s actually quite overwhelming to think about.

I’ve heard people say you don’t need to save until you are in your 40’s. Are you crazy?! When we are in our 40’s, our kids will be driving and going to college…Those factors make saving a tad more difficult. The time to save is in your 20’s and 30’s, before kids are grown and cost way more than they do as babies.

I’m in control of our monthly budget, which has been eye-opening. We spend a lot of money. Lately, I don’t always use coupons like I should, and we like to eat out. Couple that with the fact that the more healthy groceries we buy are expensive, and we go through a lot of dollars.

Here’s for my transparency: Our budget is $1,200 a month. This amount doesn’t include our mortgage or most of our bills. It sounds like a lot, right? Well, it’s not. Not for us hipsters who like to do cool things and eat out a lot. We go through this money so fast it’s ridiculous. Shoot, we have fairly fuel-efficient cars and our gas costs alone are usually between $300-$400. Coupled with at least $500 in groceries most months, and most of the budget is spent, leaving little left for fun, or even a new pair of jeans. {For the record, I use a plain old Excel spreadsheet to track everything.}

That’s where I come in to save the day. I can only overspend on that initial $1,200 where I can make up the cost. I get creative most months, but thankfully, my part-time job and occasional blog gigs make up the difference. I am thankful each month because these days, we are rarely on budget, and I hate digging into the money we specifically set aside for saving, or even worse, using money we try to set aside for our children’s educational savings plans.

Sounds stressful? Well, it’s not. I actually feel relieved knowing where each and every penny we have goes. It’s empowering. It’s enlightening. And, sure, it’s even sexy.

If you need a swift kick in the budgeting butt, I highly suggest tuning in to The Suze Orman Show. Along with my number nerd hubby, she has helped me to truly understand the need for saving moula!

So, dish — do you have a monthly budget? If not, I highly encourage you to track it for a few months! You’ll be amazed at where your money goes.

20 Items To Buy at Costco

Things I skip:

Other noteworthy points:

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